Between Vision and Reality:
The "Israel Dimension" of American Jewry
Summary of a lecture by Prof. Jonathan D. Sarna at the Mandel Leadership Institute

Prof. Sarna, who is a guest senior scholar at the Mandel Leadership Institute this year, has provided unique insights into the changing role of the State of Israel in American Jewish life. Through this lecture and other meetings with Mandel Fellows, Sarna's historical approach to contemporary challenges provides an additional perspective for the fellows to consider in their future decision making as educators and community leaders. 

In his talk, Prof. Sarna discussed the evolving concept of “Zion” in the American Jewish community from the colonial era of American Jewish history up to the present, noting changes over time, particularly after the Holocaust and World War II.

A major factor that influenced American Jewry’s relationship to Israel, said Prof. Sarna, was the notion of Zion propounded by the Zionist movement; this notion encompassed the idea of equality for Jews and a state for the Jewish people. However, even though World War II was a turning point for American Jewry that led to a Zionist awakening, American Jews largely felt that the physical return to Zion was not relevant to them. For them, America was a “translated and improved” Zion – a Zion that revealed more about their own values and needs than about realities. What became important to the identity of Americans of this era was the idea of Israel.   

Prof. Sarna noted that while during the first decades of Israel's existence American Jews related to the Jewish state as pristine and reproachless, the situation has grown more complex today, when the public discourse about Israel and Israeli policy encompasses a wide range of attitudes.

This is due, he stated, to the political disputes, the revolution in communications that makes it possible for numerous groups to attempt to influence American Jewry, and the multiplicity of voices coming from within the American Jewish community as well as from Israel itself.

Within the bounds of legitimate discourse about Israel, American Jews hold a very broad spectrum of opinions, ranging from love and support to criticism, both on the right and the left. In many ways, the range of American views mirrors the range of political views found in Israel itself.  The resulting gap between the utopian image of Israel and the reality of Israel, he suggested, stems not from a diminished sense of identification, but rather, from a dynamic perception of Israel that allows criticism - indicative of Israel’s continued role as a central component of Jewish identity, and reflecting caring rather than indifference.

Understanding that attitudes are often based on gaps between reality and utopian (or dystopian) perceptions, summarized Prof. Sarna, can offer new ways to address challenges by trying to bridge these gaps. Yet the question remains: to what degree is it really possible to bridge these gaps - or do we just have to learn how to work around them?

*About Prof. Jonathan Sarna
Jonathan D. Sarna, the Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University, is serving as a senior scholar at the Mandel Leadership Institute in Jerusalem this year.
Sarna, listed as one of America’s fifty most influential American Jews by the Forward in 2004, was chief historian for the 350th anniversary of the American Jewish community, and is recognized as a leading commentator on American Jewish history, religion, and life

Prof. Sarna has written, edited, or co-edited more than twenty books, including his new book A Time to Every Purpose: Letters to a Young Jew. His best-known book is American Judaism: A History, which was recently translated into Hebrew. This book, which won the Jewish Book Council’s Jewish Book of the Year Award in 2004, has been described as “the single best description of American Judaism during its 350 years on American soil.”

To read more about the Mandel Leadership Institute click here